We are humans, and as a result, we are going to suffer at some point in our lives. OK, at many points. For some of us, at most points. It’s something we cannot avoid, and to try to do so is pointless because it will get us, even when we least expect it. Hey, not the most uplifting way to start this, but the truth is the truth.
Italian black metal power Noise Trail Immersion are on that same pathway on “Tutta la Morte in un Solo Punto,” their fifth record overall. The title translates to “all death in one point,” itself a rather dour sentiment, but there remains some potential for light to poke through if we’re bold enough to take on this misery. The band—vocalist Fabio Rapetti, guitarists Daniele Vergine and Nebil Jabnoun, bassist Lorenzo Sirotto, drummer Simone Crivello—twists the dark arts to their will, creating music that is punishing but also wildly intelligent, never letting you in on the answers before they are revealed, and even then they sometimes keep things in the shadows. It’s a record that took me a few visits to embrace, and now that it’s sunk in, each listen has given me something different.
“Divampa L’Ignoto” opens with a crazed burst, mind-bending playing immediately eating into your brain wiring, barks and shrieks blurring your vision. The vocals get throatier as the atmosphere grows more horrific, guitars sting, and the heat from the fires hang overheard. “Spire di Sangue” has growls rumbling and a bruising, hulking pace, growing more disorienting as things move along. Guitars stab into a burgeoning humidity, yells toughen, and the thick air is enough to make you lose consciousness. “Arde e Respira” explodes, wiry playing twisting muscles, brutal howls powering as the guitars add to your fraying mental state. The tempo mauls as screams shred flesh, lumbering and crushing, blasting away and leaving cinders. “Lo Spettacolo” is fierce and furious, shrieks and growls mixing, weirdness spreading and playing with your mental faculties. Hypnotic melodies infect while steam builds, and the guitar work leaves you’ve stymied and ravaged.
“Sogno a sé Stante” burns with guitars blazing before going clean, sitting in reflective pools that let your brain float in temporary serenity. Screams then wrench as the drums encircle, sounds bludgeoning, strangeness destroying senses. “Culla e Bara” has guitars attacking and barked vocals landing hard, a slow-burning, yet jarring path getting rowdier and hotter, screams rippling down spines. The pace then gets more immersive, pulling you under black waves that fully envelop. “Finzione” has growls choking, a mesmerizing pace that smears blood, and a slowly engorging thrust that tests your strength. The vocals get throatier as the burly attack continues to multiply, giving off uncomfortable heat. “Precipizio Consapevole” is hypnotic to start, the guitars melting into metallic streams, the screams mangling with full force. The thrashiness trucks as melodies turn inside out, completely infecting before double-kick drums rattle your skull. The closing title track immediately tangles your limbs as growls retch, and a vicious thrust turns warmer and mystifying. Drums erupt as the guitars scorch flesh, echoes and sounds interfere, and then the track unloads for a final burst, sending speed and trickery to administer one last beating.
The mix of abject suffering and eventual catharsis makes “Tutta la Morte in un Solo Punto” both a purposely confusing listen as well as one that should inject strange new life into your cells. Noise Trail Immersion do not set you off on a simplistic brutal journey, as their scope and capabilities would be wasted in such a scenario, so get ready to have your mind challenged. This is a record that might take some time to settle in, but once it does, its effects and the adventure you take cannot be shaken easily, if at all.
For more on the band, go here: https://noisetrailimmersion.bandcamp.com/
To buy the album, go here: https://metalodyssey.8merch.us/
For more on the label, go here: https://i-voidhangerrecords.bandcamp.com/
Meat Mead Metal 